New CTS Volume Pot Too Stiff - Advice Please

Boromedic

Hi all, asking for a mate as I'm out of ideas!

He replaced a volume pot on a 1998 Les Paul Custom, even from new the orignal CTS pots were very easy to turn, this new one is far too stiff and affecting his enjoyment of playing it. With a gig coming up, he's looking to try and free it up. I'm getting conflicting advice online, some are suggesting contact cleaner, some are saying machine oil carefully dropped down the shaft, others suggest being able to unscrew the shaft a little bit which seems unlikely but thought I'd ask.

Any advice greatly received, pot is fine otherwise, works as it should in terms of volume.

Thanks

Edit: Another bit of advice suggests pouring Naptha into the pot, is this a good idea, sounds messy too me!

BloodEagle

Give a good squirt of swtich cleaner down the shaft and rotate it a few times

ICBM

Contact cleaner/lubricant (Servisol, Electrolube or similar) in the back of the pot.

Boromedic

Cheers guys, will give it a whirl. He has the WD40 contact cleaner, I presume this is okay? (based on my search here there are some misgivings with WD40, but this is the specific cleaner!)

ICBM

Boromedic said:

Cheers guys, will give it a whirl. He has the WD40 contact cleaner, I presume this is okay? (based on my search here there are some misgivings with WD40, but this is the specific cleaner!)

Yes, that will be fine.

Ordinary WD-40 is also fine on CTS pots.

You still need to spray it in from the back of the pot, but luckily that's easy on a Les Paul.

Boromedic

Cool, thanks mate

Boromedic

Unfortunately it hasn't freed up at all despite the contact cleaner, could it be a dud pot? Or are newish CTS high torque these days?

bbill335

Servisol 10 cleaner/lubricant is much better than wd40's contact cleaner. I've got both and wd40 is like a very temporary patch job. 

Boromedic

Yeah, couldn't pick up any servisol in a pinch where he is unfortunately. I don't think its a lubrication issue, if anything the high torque could be linked to having too much grease on the shaft probably. The WD40 would've taken care of that and it's still stiff, so I'm thinking its a duff pot tbh.

streethawk

Some CTS pots are stiffer than others, depending on the quality/specs.

Low torque pots have a tighter tolerance at the upper end, so none of them will be particularly stiff.  

That being said, there will be some variation in the same batch of low torque specced pots. I do a quick test for similar torque before wiring pots into a loom.

So your friend doesn't have a 'duff' pot per se, it's just mismatched in relation to his other pots. 

Boromedic

No worries, he's going to go back to his tech I think and see what he says. Pot broke at his last gig, and now the replacement is kinda awful to use as a volume player being so stiff. Hopefully the tech has some options!

streethawk

Boromedic said:

No worries, he's going to go back to his tech I think and see what he says. Pot broke at his last gig, and now the replacement is kinda awful to use as a volume player being so stiff. Hopefully the tech has some options!

There's only a few quid difference between a great CTS pot and one that might pee you off no end. Then break.

I'd advise your friend to look into CTS tvt pots and if he likes what he reads, take that info to his tech. 

Or maybe his tech already has a bunch of pots and can choose the least stiff one. 

Boromedic

Cheers mate, will update the thread when I know.

Winny_Pooh

I've not found a new CTS pot to date that turns easier with switch cleaner/lubricant. Some are just annoyingly stiff. 

shugz

Have you opened the pot up? Not as dramatic as it sounds. There's 4 little tabs on the pot, gently prise those back and if the pot hasn't had any tabs soldered for grounds then it should free the shaft from the case. Might allow you to inspect it and see if anything amiss. Sometimes they overgunge them which can take a bit of working off if just using it in a guitar. 

H

meltedbuzzbox

Set it to 10 and rock out?

Boromedic

Cheers @Winny_Pooh , will see what the tech says.

I think he's gonna go to the tech before doing anything like that tbh @shugz , plus with it being in a Gibson, one of the tabs has been soldered to the case anyway. Thanks for the advice though.

Boromedic

meltedbuzzbox said:

Set it to 10 and rock out?

Hahaha, not a bad idea! Would work for hamfisted ole me, but he's a volume player so it's ruining his flow at the minute. He'll get it sorted.

shugz

Not a worry, the tabs can be unsoldered but as others have said, for 5-6 quids maybe just replacing isn't too awful. When I used to make harnesses I tried to match the pots within the batches I bought as best I could but they weren't always uniform. I tended to have the smoother ones for volumes and use the remainder for tones. 

Hope you get it sorted 
H

Boromedic

Thanks mate

Boromedic

So thought I would update this. No matter what we tried the pot decided to stay high torque, so a new Mojotone one has arrived apparently they're the same as the ones Collings fit and the lowest torque CTS available. It's the mutts nuts!